Fortunately for students, the hiring environment for 2012 is not as discouraging as it was in 2008-09, when financial institutions worried more about survival than bringing aboard new MBAs. Yet with announcements every other day from banks about rounds of lay-offs, finance students know the task of winning an offer for a meaningful internship will be tricky.

Market volatility in recent months, frenzied discussions about U.S. debt reduction, a stumbling economic recovery and persistent rumblings from Europe all have impact even in hiring MBA students. The webinar provided strategies for new students.

Panelists said there is some optimism--despite all. Financial institutions are in better shape now than they were in 2008. They have stronger capital cushion and are flooded with cash reserves, although they momentarily are suffering from trading losses or slow deal flow. They are, however, hopeful they'll get over a late-2011-2012 hump, endure a long election year and want to be prepared for 2012-13.

Many large firms, panelists said, are optimistic and hopeful, but cautious. There are areas of opportunity (private banking, risk management, middle-market banking, e.g.), but there are also areas of decline or little hope (some sectors in trading). Financial reform, not just economic conditions, will also affect recruiting trends.

For now, financial institutions this fall made the rounds at Consortium and other top business schools, as they usually do, no matter the environment. A few canceled planned presentations on campus--still unsure about deal flow, new clients, new business, and costs to support business efforts in the short term. Most institutions are struggling to count how many spots for MBA internships it will offer. The same institutions have a decades-long history for not getting the number right (over-hiring, under-hiring, and doing so too quickly). They certainly have a habit for changing the expected number throughout the process.

MBAs, nonethless, throughout the post-crisis fracas, continue to have degrees of interest in finance. Over 80 students in this year's Consortium first-year class expressed interest in financial services, banking, sales & trading, investment research, and asset management.

Panelist during the webinar provided a road map for students. How do you take advantage of networks? How do you choose the right finance sector, culture and fit? Why is it important to keep up with current topics? How do you confront technical interviews? Will you succeed in certain environments? How do you impress an institution where you prefer to work? How do you control and master rounds and rounds of interviewing?

Panelists shared stories of how they chose to work at a certain firm, why they chose one firm over another, or why they took a detour and went into a non-banking role. They showed, too, how they tapped networks to find opportunities. They advised on how students can manage academics, recruiting and keeping up with trends and events in markets. They reminded students to handle technical interviews with confidence and preparation.

They discussed trends in diversity. Are the major institutions still committed? Will institutions be committed in all times--good times, downturns, booms?

And once you have the offer, how do you negotiate and accept it? How do you make sure the summer internship leads to a full-time offer? Panelists shared their experiences.

CFN, upon request, will share details of the presentation to Consortium students and alumni.

If you were to peep inside the corridors of most venture capital firms, including those in pockets of Silicon Valley or those scattered about Manhattan or in the Boston suburbs, would you see encouraging signs of diversity? Would you see a diverse environment, an inclusive culture, or a setting where those from under-represented groups are deeply involved in investment discussions, analyses, presentations, and decision-making?

In those same venture capital firms, would you see women, blacks and Hispanics in prominent professional roles?

Not really, says a survey from the National Venture Capital Association (http://www.nvca.org/). Would you be surprised? Not really, the survey also shows. The business of venture capital (investing in promising start-ups, nurturing new ideas, coaching young entrepreneurs, and facilitating financing in second and third rounds) has a long way to go.

The survey was taken in mid-2011 and follows a similar survey from 2008. The survey was sent to investment professionals and to those in a variety of administrative roles. About 600 responded, providing answers to questions related to race, ethnicity, background and education. Whether optimally scientific or not, the responses weren't surprising. Women, blacks and Hispanics still do not have significant roles in venture capital--at least at the big, world-shaking firms.

What did the survey tell us?

1. Women are not prominent in major roles at venture-capital firms. Only 11 percent of those in investing roles are women, a decline, in fact, from 2008 (14 percent).

2. Women are more involved in life sciences and clean technology (18 percent), less involved in non-high-tech businesses (8 percent).

3. There are signs of progress. Women (both investing professionals and administrators) comprise 28 percent of those under 30.

4. Blacks and Hispanics are virtually invisible in the industry, and there has been little or no progress the past three years. African-Americans and Hispanics (combined) comprise 2 percent of all survey respondents (both investors and administrators)--down from 3 percent in 2008.

5. There are few signs of progress among Blacks and Hispanics. They comprise 3 percent of investing professionals who had less than five years of experience (those who are among the most recent hires).

6. Asians and Asian-Americans have a greater presence at venture-capital firms, but not in significant numbers: 9 percent of all respondents this year, 17 percent of all investing professionals with less than five years of experience.

7. Alumni from prominent graduate schools are present in large numbers at top venture-capital firms. Almost 80 percent have master's, J.D., or Ph.D. degrees; about half have MBAs. Graduates of Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Penn, MIT, Berkeley, Duke, Norwestern, Michigan, and Columbia comprised about half of all the respondents.

8. More than half of respondents had spent some time in their careers as consultants, investment bankers or attorneys, suggesting that one of the best ways to enter the field is to have started out first and gained meaningful experience in one of these roles.

Why are the numbers for under-represented groups woefully low?

Why hasn't there been progress? Is there something that keeps or discourages blacks, Hispanics and women from large-scale entrepreneurial activity and from participating in expected profits and large windfalls from sales of private stock or IPOs?

As most know, the top venture-capital firms tend to be concentrated in hotbeds of entrepreneurial activity, where firms have close access to new ideas, innovation, and eager entrepreneurs, but also access to capital and investors. Silicon Valley and the greater San Francisco area are well-known homes for top ventures firms, but so are Boston, Chicago, and New York.

Top firms, based on the number of deals they've done over the past few years and the amount of capital they manage, include Sequoia Capital, Andreesson Horrowitz, Draper Fisher, Kleiner Perkins, General Catalyst, Accel, Charles River Ventures, Khosla, Oak Investment, and Greylock--many of whom are members of the NVCA and likely had employees and investing professionals who participated in the survey.

Why are those from under-represented groups not intimately involved in the promise, innovation and profit-sharing of venture investing?

1. The venture-capital world is private, clubbish. "Members" know each other well from previous deals, affiliations, and experiences. They know each other in previous roles as bankers, lawyers, and consultants. They may, in fact, know each other from school. They invest in deals and funds within the club; they hire among each other or tap investing talent they know among themselves.

Some firm leaders might have been entrepreneurs before. They benefited from financial support and industry guidance from other venture firms. The survey said more than 15 percent of investing professionals at venture firms were CEOs or heads of other start-ups. Many managed start-ups through early stages, reaped large benefits from the sale of their enterprises, and then invested the wealth in new venture funds. Marc Andreessen, a Netscape founder, and Peter Thiel, PayPal's founder, are now widely known as venture investors.

2. Venture firms are narrowly focused on the next deal, the next new idea, and the next entrepreneur who has a "disrupting" vision. They are seldom motivated by or caring enough to ensure diversity among their professional staff. Institutions, investors, and funds that provide capital for the venture fund don't hold firms accountable. Because transactions and relationships are private, they aren't likely to push to make firm's culture inclusive and or push to provide opportunities for those from a variety of backgrounds.

3. Venture firms, not held accountable and operating in closed-door environments, are likely to be unaware, uninformed or unperceptive of diversity's benefits.

4. Venture firms tend to be marginally staffed. They include investor professionals, principals, partners, analysts, and researchers. They also include attorneys, administrators, and financial staff. They are not likely to have personnel who pursue diversity-related initiatives and programs, who hold the firm's leaders accountable to fairness, opportunities and diversity, or who prompt the firm to catch up or keep up in related issues.

5. Venture firms aren't likely familiar with diversity pipeline programs or aren't aware that blacks, women, and Hispanics in numbers are interested in venture capital, private equity and fund investing and attend the same top business schools that their leaders did. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and women who find their ways into the sheltered cultures are likely to have attended the same schools and found a pathway from school ties, summer internships, or experiences in investment banking or consulting.

Despite the dismal numbers, some African-Americans, Hispanics and women have punctured the closed doors. Some have started their own funds or have found a way into top spots at the bigger venture capital or private-equity firms (Ronald Blaylock's GenNx360 Capital, e.g.).

Nonetheless, applaud the NVCA. First, it dares to conduct such a survey and report its results widely, even if there isn't yet much to celebrate while progress is stiflingly slow. Second, it states it has objectives to improve the numbers. Its president Mark Heesen said in a recent release, "Ideally, we would like to see a professional base that reflects the entrepreneurs in which we invest, one that is robust and diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, nationality and age."

In other words,the NVCA is daring to hold the industry accountable, if it doesn't do so itself.

Do you want legal status from the Department of Homeland Security? Are you looking for legal assistance that can help you represent in Immigration Court? With the help of a veteran immigration or i9 lawyer, you can get full-fledged legal assistance and can ease your pressures in pursuit of immigration benefits. They are specialized attorneys who hold licenses to practice law under the regulation of the State and Federal Government.

Throughout the year, plenty of immigrants come to US and that too without an immigration lawyer. While paying a visit to foreign lands, you might encounter such situations where you fall absolutely clueless in getting a solution. Crucial things like paperwork filing or easing you struggle with speaking or writing English can all be handled by an i9 lawyer. So, if you are in the hunt for finding the best immigration lawyer, you need to keep a few things in mind so that you don’t pick someone amateur in this profession.

Kick off your researches by going through the list of registered i9 lawyers. Unless he is experienced and licensed, it’s better not to work with him. Remember, any other attorney might not be aware of the rules and regulations required to represent those who will be immigrating to the United States. Therefore, an i9 lawyer is a must when it comes to preparing for representation in immigration court.

Getting in touch with an immigration attorney can help you in several ways. For instance, he will help you analyze all the facts of your case and thereafter help you suggest the best options. Moreover, you will be informed the best ways that can help you attain legal status. An i9 lawyer is well informed of all the latest laws and will be present at each and every step of the application process.

So, get the best i9 lawyer today so that you can enjoy all immigration benefits. Good luck!!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Recession has brought almost everything under strain and annuities are also not different. The total investment and savings option has already gone into jeopardy. Since there is hardly any option of pension, so only savings on an Annuity scheme could help us to face the bad weather of future years. Since, medical expenses are on a constant rise and investment in an annuity scheme could be very much beneficial. It is designed in such a way, that it accepts and grows the funds in favor of an individual. When the annuitization is completed it pays back the money to the investor.

They are designed in such a way, that it could generate a steady cash flow over a certain period of time. They are very much helpful for the retired persons. This financial scheme could generate the same flow of money. This is almost similar, the person generated during his years of employment. The Annuity scheme can continue till the annuitant or their spouse is alive. They can also be some way or the other uniquely structured to pay funds for a certain period of time. It is not linked to the longevity of the annuitant. An annuity is flexible financial instrument, can be designed or structured according to the need of the investor.

Since, the world is in a grip of a recession, and nearly the crashing out of the world financial market has left almost, everyone clueless. This has become particularly important for the financial companies. Annuity can provide periodic payment of interest to save the life of a retired investor, particularly the medical expenses.

There are different types of Annuity’s and they are,

Immediate Annuity

Deferred Annuity

Fixed Annuity

Bonus Annuity

Indexed Annuity

Income & Variable Annuity

All the above schemes are based on the Immediate or the Deferred and all the schemes are based on them. But the indexed variety is mainly linked with the rise and fall of stocks and the overall market sentiment.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Being financially strong is our prime target, isn’t it? All the workloads, overtimes, official responsibilities, and investments we bear-is to secure ourselves financially. With financial freedom, we get the independence to rule our own lives in our own way, right.. Then, why letting this life of joys get spoiled after retirement just because you have stopped earning.? Why relying upon others for asking money after retirement- is that all what you deserve after 40 years of hard work and sincerity??

My answer will be a “no”. Of course, you deserve to be happier than ever during your retired life and this can be done by equity release.

Certainly, equity release allows you to have the benefits of unlocking a huge amount from the valuation of your own property without selling it, until you die. It is a great way of making oneself financial needs or self independent after retirement. Let us discuss the matter in brief.

How to become eligible for releasing equity??

Only, the people who are above 55 years of old and have well-structured residential properties of their own, are eligible for applying to the equity release.

Available schemes:

Lifetime mortgages

Home reversion plans

Home income plans

Shared appreciation mortgages

Interest only plans

Depending upon your financial help requirements and property conditions, you can apply to any of these retirement plans for releasing equity on your property. But, it is always better to take advice from your financial adviser before setting the deal.

Equity release-unlimited benefits for your post retirement life

It allows you to live a hassle-free life. You can plan for holidays or can fix the amount to have monthly installments so that you can bear all the expenses well. The amount you release on equity can also be used for bearing medicinal expenses.

So, why not applying to the equity release to unlock the way towards the life of happiness by gaining financial holds over expenses!!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

"Do you invest based on your intuition, the fundamental or the technical analysis? This is a question posed by a 18 year old girl who attended my investment workshop last month in KL. I thought for a moment and answered: "Both technical and fundamental." Shortly after, I continued, "sometimes intuition!" I know when I said "intuition" it may discredit myself but I have to give an honest answer, because that's the way I trade - a combination of everything, technical, fundamental, psychology, market sentiment, feng shui and intuition!

Some people will relate "intuition" with feng shui or astrology as they belong to the non-scientific world which is difficult to explain. There is really no right or wrong answer when it comes to investing or trading, because investing is an art!

In the history of investing, there was one a famous investment guru who traded using geometry, astronomy and astrology. He is the legendary William D. Gann who invented the famous Gann Theory - a time cycle based technical analysis.

Gann was born in 1878 and died in 1955, he had witnessed the great depression, the World War 1 and World War 2, the ups and the downs in the stock market for 50 years! He could make prediction of the stock or commodity with the exact price on the exact date! In today's word, he was like a fortune teller, but loaded with strong financial knowledge. For example, in 1909 Gann made the prediction that the price of wheat would go to $1.20 by 12 noon on September 30th. On that day, at the opening, the wheat was selling below $1.08 and it looked as though his prediction wold not be fulfilled. In the end, the wheat did closed exactly at $1.20 at the end of the day!

He also successfully predicted the massive stock crash in 1929. In November 1928 in his annual stock forecast report , he wrote:

"This year (1929) occurs in a cycle, which shows the ending of the bull market and the beginning of a prolonged bear campaign. The present bull market campaign has lasted longer than any previous campaign in the history of this country. The fact that it has run longer and prices have advanced to such abnormal heights means that when the decline sets in, it must be in proportion to the advance. The year 1929 will witness some sharp, severe panicky declines in many high priced stocks........ First decline culminates around September 30th; then a rally making top on October 2nd, followed by a decline to October 24th; then a final top around November 2nd to 4th, followed by a big decline, reaching bottom around December 18th to 20th; then a rally to the end of the year." (Does this sounds like a fortune teller?) The stock crash started on October 29th 1929.

Despite having the ability to forecast, Gann emphasized on investment knowledge. He believed knowledge is power! He said: "The difference between success and failure in trading in commodities is the difference between one man knowing and following fixed rules and the other man guessing. The man who guesses usually losses. Therefore, if you want to make a success and make profits, your objective must be to know more; study all the time; never think that you know it all."I agree with him totally! Although he was gifted in a way, he stayed humble and used his solid financial knowledge to confirm his prediction. We shouldn't rely too much on feng shui or astrology either in investing or in our daily lives. We must stay objective, equiped ourselves with the right knowledge, and most importantly, stay humble and always have the quest to learn more. With these positive attitude, success is on the way!

Friday, November 11, 2011

A big worry for all responsible parents is how they should go about ensuring their children can attend university to complete their years of formal education. While university is not the only path to a successful career, if your child’s passion is one which requires a number of years of university study then you want to give them the best opportunity to compete in their career market. There is no doubt that parents want the best for their kids when they grow up, this is both natural and proper, but it should not be forgotten that part of the education process is to learn to fend for yourself and this can be extended to young people who want a higher education as much as anything else. In other words how much should your children contribute themselves to their own formal education?

In many cases parents have gone without over many years to make certain that their children get the best education possible. In a child’s formative years this is absolutely necessary as he or she is far too young to take on part time work and they therefore need the full financial support of caring parents. But surely there comes a time when this is no longer as true. As the children get older they must learn to shoulder some of the cost of their educational ambitions.

There are four main stakeholders in education, these being:

1. State.

2. Industry.

3. Parents.

4. Child.

The state benefits from having a more highly educated population. The higher educated the members of a community, the more they will be able to contribute to the community in knowledge and aspirations. All communities need doctors, nurses, teachers, judges, lawyers, corporate leaders and politicians to name just a few; just as much as they need builders, electricians, plumbers and others in the skilled trades. All children growing up in the community need to be encouraged to reach their true potential as this benefits the state in the future as much as it does the person growing up within the community. This is why much of the taxpayer’s money goes towards the building, maintenance, subsidising and running of schools, colleges and universities.

Industry needs skilled personnel for it to be able to function to its full capacity. It needs highly educated people to run its plants, carry out research and to invent new or improved products. In return it also contributes to the cost of research establishments and assists financial needs by paying taxes to finance schools, colleges and universities.

Parents bring the future doctors, lawyers, tradespeople and more into the world and ensure they get the best education possible as they grow so they can take their rightful place in the community in the future. For this, much of the taxes parents pay to the state go towards education. These taxes go towards paying the cost of sending their children to primary schools, high schools, college, technical colleges and universities. Sure, they also have to contribute other money, towards their offspring's education all these years, such as school fees right up to university fees, as well as books and other necessities, but as all parents know there are many costs associated with educating their children that often go unnoticed.

From the day your child enters kindergarten their formal education commences. Their education at that stage of their lives is just as important as that of their university years. The state, through your taxation, helps pay the cost from that day on. However, when the child reaches the stage where they can help contribute to their own education they should assist as much as possible and this stage is reached when they are of university age. A good way of helping them do this is to open a high interest savings account for them on the day they start kindergarten. This is an important milestone which can commemorate with the first financial contribution to your child’s future, and they can be made aware of this account throughout their entire years of learning. Small amounts can be contributed regularly, especially at birthdays and Christmas. As the child enters their teen years, and they are encouraged to take on part time work, where they can get it, they can then contribute more to their education account themselves. On reaching 18 years and they make the decision to go to university they will have a fund of their own from which they can draw and add to, as required. Most countries also have low interest loans available for university students these days and these loans don't have to be repaid until the student graduates and starts work in their new profession.

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Such an approach will still give a parent the opportunity to contribute extra to the higher education of their children and at the same time encourage the child to do the same. It will instil a habit of helping to pay for what they are receiving. University education, is a desirable ambition for all stakeholders who contribute to the education of a young person to have; the parent, the state, industry and the student themselves. All contribute large amounts of money to this end in helping to spread the cost. Individual parents need not feel inadequate if they can't contribute as much as others, because they will have already contributed a considerable amount, through the taxation system that is designed to provide for their family’s future too.

Alban has written a large range of articles on finance. Amongst all topics, Alban specialises in

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Late last month the world of finance, brokerage and trading experienced a hiccup--beyond the daily eruptions from Europe. It wasn't yet another day of market swoons or showdowns in Europe. It wasn't yet another day of a nose-dive in the Dow or headline disagreements on how the economy should recover.

MF Global, the futures brokerage firm, filed for bankruptcy. It was deemed too small to save. MF Global was not a household name (but so wasn't Bernard Madoff before the world found out about that fraud). Few outside the industry knew much about MF Global. Some knew that former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was its CEO. And they knew Corzine had been the head at Goldman Sachs in the 1990s.

MF Global was known as a major player in futures and commodities brokerage. It had institutional client accounts with hedge funds, pension funds, corporations, banks, other brokerages, and other trading firms. It facilitated futures and commodities trading on all the important derivatives exchanges around the world and special trading over the counter.

For the most part, it acted in intermediary roles, a broker for clients who wished to engage in futures and commodities trading for hedging purposes or for taking a bet or view on interest rates, crude oil, foreign currencies, or stock indices. Clients deposited funds at the firm, and the firm facilitated trading at futures and commodities exchanges or "over the counter." It earned commissions (or "mark-ups"). Client funds not yet deployed for transaction purposes were supposed to be deemed "safe" and "segregated."

MF Global was supposed to be somewhat insulated from virulent swings in markets, as long as there was some activity or some transaction for which it could charge a commission. While clients try to hedge against market swings, MF Global is supposed to thrive in market volatility, not suffer inexplicable trading losses that lead to bankruptcy.

Entered Corzine, recovering from a devastating loss for reelection for a gubernatorial term in New Jersey and perhaps hoping to write a thrilling second chapter to his career on Wall Street. He felt he could be the catalyst to wake up a sleeping MF Global, which had stumbled through a few performance and risk-management issues before he arrived.

To provide earnings spark and improve performance, Corzine felt he needed to reinvent MF Global. It wouldn't move away from its core brokerage expertise, but it needed to be more daring. It would take risks in the same way Goldman evolved to become a trading powerhouse under his helm in the 1990s.

MF's demise has caused ripples in markets, not a Lehman-like thunderous roar. Its disappearance won't be a threat to the global financial system. But many market participants wonder whether other medium-sized brokerage houses are similarly vulnerable or could be next. Who could be next? Unfortunately, too, at MF Global, regulators are scrambling to locate hundreds of millions of dollars of missing customer funds. Many experienced brokerage personnel at the firm must look elsewhere for work. (Over 900 were let go this week.)

What happened at MF? What hastened its demise?

1. Corzine likely tried to hard too fast to replicate parts of Goldman and had a stubborn belief in his old, successful ways. About a year after Corzine had settled in, MF Global started to suffer substantial losses from leveraged bets on Europe sovereign debt this year (exploiting its access to "repo" markets and credit-default swaps, but stumbling soon thereafter).

2. Risk management lacked a voice or authority to restrain the trading and the firm's piling up of risks. It certainly lacked authority to second-guess Corzine. He presided over a risk-management structure that didn't allow risk managers to say "no" or "slow down."

3. MF was non-responsive to regulators' persistent requests to increase its capital base. Capital might have been adequate for a pure-brokerage role, but it wasn't when it began to engage in proprietary trading on a large scale. Instead of boosting capital to comply with requests, Corzine and team would lead arguments for why it felt new capital wasn't necessary.

Are there lessons to be learned from the MF Global mini-crisis?

1. Leveraged trading is still risky, even if it involves trading government securities.

2. Risk management within financial institutions must have an authoritative voice to be effective.

3. Old, successful ways of making money in trading may not be magical and profitable at a different firm in a different era in apparently different market scenarios.

4. Plain-vanilla brokerage and banking businesses may not always lead to stellar returns, but can help ensure long-term survival.

What happens over the next year or two?

1. The bankruptcy will run its course. It will continue to be a business headline, because customer funds and deposits are missing and can't be accounted for. Regulators, market watchers, and business media will persist in asking how that could happen. They will blame woefully inadequate operations, and some will suspect fraud.

2. Exchanges and regulators will ponder rules changes to discourage futures brokerages from taking big proprietary-trading risks. As with other financial reform, new rules will be thoroughly discussed, but won't be implemented soon.

3. MF Global will become a broker/dealer-industry footnote like Rothshild, Hutton, Refco, and Drexel. That it will become a footnote in the history of finance is probably good. It meant it was too small to save, just a market ripple.

After financial turmoil in 2008-09, Black Enterprise magazine decided to wait a year or two before presenting its occasional list of the most powerful blacks on Wall Street. It figured it needed to watch the shake-out in the industry and observe the impact on African-Americans.

In its latest issue (http://www.blackenterprise.com/), it decided now is a good time to update its list, although Wall Street, banking and trading have experienced many bumps and bruises in 2011. It failed to answer conclusively whether African-Americans took unfair, backward steps in diversity progress among top banks, brokers and financial institutions. Everybody took hits during 2009-10, all groups and genders, including African-Americans in entry and middle-level roles. We all saw the industry reduce staff by the thousands during the crisis.And we saw how some on their own fled the industry to avoid stress and uncertainty or to explore other opportunities with less strain.

With signs of an upturn in 2010 and with institutions recommitting themselves to older diversity initiatives, it's not yet clear whether blacks are returning to Wall Street in the same numbers as before. Banks are reaching out to hire African-Americans interested in banking and finance, but like many in the population, blacks may not be raising their hands as they did in the 1990s and early 2000s. Many don't want to confront anxiety, possible layoffs, and going to work not sure where the industry is headed in the next year. Many on the inside confront that now, as we head into bonus and appraisal season.

In its latest list, however,Black Enterprise observed that many senior African-Americans in the industry continue in senior roles. The latest list includes familiar names, people who have been top players in investment banking, investment management, and private equity for the past 10-15 years; some more than 20 years.

Many on the list include top executives of familiar black-owned firms: Chris Williams (above) of Williams Capital, John Rogers of Ariel Investments, Bernard Beal of M.R. Beal, Tracy Maitland of Advent Capital, Donald Rice of Rice Financial, James Reynolds of Loop Capital, and Calvin Grigsby of Grisby Associates.

The list also includes known investment bankers, managing directors or senior advisers at top banks--those prominent in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, municipal finance or corporate advisory: Raymond McGuire at Citi, Rodney Miller at JPMorgan, Carla Harris and Melissa James at Morgan Stanley, and William Lewis at Lazard.

It includes an impressive number who have made their marks in private equity: Ronald Blaylock, founder at GenNx360 Capital, Terry Jones of Syncom Venture Partners, Raymond Whiteman of Carlyle, and Adebayo Ogunlesi at Global Infrastructure (a GE venture).

Most of the above have had long careers on Wall Street (more than 20 years); many started at major banks and moved on to start their own firms after gaining experience, contact and access to capital.

The BE list includes a couple who made their names elsewhere, but turned to Wall Street in the latter parts of their careers: Robert Johnson of BET fame and fortune is on the list for having started a middle-market private-equity firm. Vernon Jordan, best known for his roles at the National Urban League and as a Clinton presidential insider, is a senior managing director at Lazard.

The list, for some reason, excludes Roger Ferguson, CEO of TIAA-CREF, the large retirement fund with over $480 billion in assets. Ferguson is also a former governor at the Federal Reserve. And it excludes Kenneth Chenault, CEO of American Express, arguably more powerful than all 75 on the current list. Black Enterprise couldn't have forgotten him, since it has featured him often on covers and in articles over the past two decades.

Black Enterprise's list shows where there might be gaps on Wall Street, segments of financial services where blacks have virtually no role, are negligible in numbers or have not been able to penetrate at all--even if they have desire and interest. The list, for example, doesn't include many blacks who are sufficiently senior to be included in equity research, industry analysts who present their financial views of companies publicly and whose opinions about specific companies or macroeconomic trends can move markets in minutes.

Notably, the list doesn't include many African-Americans who are senior traders at prominent hedge funds or high-frequency trading firms or who are partners at Silicon Valley venture capital firms. That might not be an accident. Market-influencing hedge funds, high-frequency trading firms and ground-breaking venture firms are private. They operate in hush-hush environments. They tend to hire among small circles in tight networks and are indifferent to the benefits of diversity. Young African-Americans learn about these firms at business school, in exploring opportunities in finance, and from networks.But they have tough times when they knock on those doors--at least in junior positions.

Black Enterprise's list, once again, shows there are indeed many blacks--even post-crisis--who aspire to careers on Wall Street, who want to trade, invest, do research, manage portfolios, advise companies and finance start-ups, who want to help companies and municipalities fund operations, and who want to consider starting their own boutiques and shops when they are ready.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Many of us have been focusing too much on the technical indicators and moving averages, and neglected one important aspect of the technical analysis - the time cycles.

Time cycle is the study of the TIMING of the market boom and bust, which tells us the timing of the event happen as history keeps repeating itself. According to one of the pioneers of cyclic analysis, Edward R. Dewey, "something out there in the universe must be causing these cycles (bulls and bears) ... there seemed to be a sort of pulse to the universe that accounted for the pervasive presence of these cycles throughout so many areas of human existence."

From the chart, we can see that in the history of our Malaysian economy, the recessions were recorded in 1973, 1985, 1998, 2009, which is 12 years apart with the exception of 1998. In feng shui perspective, they all fall in the year of OX (1973, 1985, 2009) and Tiger (1998)!

I also discovered another horoscope that is prone for stock crash - the year of Snake. For one the Great Depression started in 1929, the year of Snake, subsequently we also have smaller crashes in 1965, 1977, 2001 and possible 2013? Is it coincidence or there is really something out there in the universe making this happen?

There was a Russian economist, Nikolai Kondratieff discovered this during the 1920's and published a book called "The Major Economic Cycles" in 1925. In his book, he noted the repeating behaviour of the economic cycle which is deemed capitalistic in the communist world, as a result, he was sentenced to death and died in a Siberian labour camp in 1938. Despite the tragedy, his work was recognised by people and his theory is known as the Long Wave Cycle or the K-Wave theory.

In the K-wave theory, there is a cycle of around 60 years divided into 4 seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter with each lasts about 15 years. For example the big cycles are as follows: (source from Wikepedia),

As we can see if we add another 40yrs to 1982, it become 2022, which is 11 yrs from now. According to many analysts, they believe we're now going through the Winter wave of the K-wave cycle. How far is this theory hold true, I leave it to you to interprete. There are 2 more articles relating to this K-wave:

If you have bought a car, auto insurance is a must. Go through the article to know everything that can fetch you cheap auto insurance premiums.

You have got a car from dad few days ago and you have been driving with pleasure. So, you must be also having auto insurance, right? Well, if you are still in doubt, get it immediately without any delay and hesitation. If it’s a rule not to drive a car without auto insurance, you must obey it or otherwise you might have to face a chain of unpleasant consequences. Now, if you are still in the count of teens, you have huge possibilities of getting high premiums. So, your present job is to look for cheap auto insurance premiums.

So, now you are wondering as how to get cheap auto insurance? Well, there are various ways to get so:

Look for a reputed auto insurance company. For this you need to conduct an extensive research so that you can rely on your Financial help or an agent and get the best rates and premiums. Moreover, if you talk to someone having long years of experience in this field, you will be made aware of all sorts of circumstances be it pleasant or unpleasant.

Maintain a clean driving history. If you drive your car safely obeying the traffic rules, you will certainly keep away from road accidents. The more the number of accidental cases you register in your driving record, the lesser the chances to get cheap premiums. A crystal clear driving history can certainly impress your insurance agent and he might fetch you discounts.

Look for more and more discounts. This will surely reduce your premiums and can save a good lot of your expenses. You cannot expect cheap auto insurance from all insurance agents especially if you are a teen. Therefore, you have to get involved in extensive researches and find out the right agent.Make sure that the car you are driving is road friendly. If your car comes with anti-theft and other security features, you can get cheap auto insurance. Your agent will realize that you have installed your car with certain features that can keep you protected from encountering accidents.

Get enrolled in a driving course. Once you attain certification in driving, your agent will not hesitate to get you attractive offers. At least he will be convinced that you have taken the initiative to drive with care and perfection. So, you will certainly have higher chances to get high insurance premiums.

Plenty of agencies have been set up in the last few years offering cheap auto insurance as a financial reform. Different agencies come with different insurance rates and quotes. Therefore, its better you get to know and compare the different offerings of different agencies. In fact, some auto insurance companies come with several discounts that can help teens to a good extent.

Whichever insurance agency you are contacting make sure that it has been providing quality service to insurance claimants for years. You can check the website of the individual insurance agent and go through the comments posted by clients in the past whether they have been at all satisfied with cheap auto insurance.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Like it or not, the Volcker rules are coming. Ready or not, banks confront the new reality. Banks reported a gush of trading-related revenues in the 2000s. Going forward, they will not be permitted to engage in proprietary trading in the way they have done successfully the past decade.

Banks, including old commercial banks and investment banks that turned into bank holding companies, maintained trading units and ran them like internal hedge funds. They were allowed to use capital to support trading in most any instrument they felt they had expertise in or perceived profit opportunities. They traded equities, held positions long or short, traded equity derivatives, and traded equity-linked swaps. Big banks, like JPMorgan, Citi, or Goldman Sachs, reported profits, had substantial roles in all markets, and attracted talent. Small community banks shied away.

They could execute "black blox" trades, high-frequency algorithms, or deal in"exotics." Analysts described Goldman as a trading firm or hedge fund disguised as an investment bank. Morgan Stanley, for many years, operated a closed-doors proprietary trading group, featuring traders with doctorates with complex ideas about exotic trades and statistical arbitrage.

Banks organized and managed desks in bonds, structured notes, mortgages, foreign currencies, convertible bonds, options, and high-yield debt. They traded in every imaginable derivative--from currency swaps to credit-default swaps and asset-backed indices. They took positions, took risks in market trends, and bet in the long term or short term.

And none of this trading was required to accommodate customers, although selling to or buying from investors who were clients was a significant part of the business.

Dodd-Frank and other bank regulation around the globe are curtailing prop-trading at commercial banks, at bank holding-companies, and at any financial institution that has a deposit-taking business in its vicinity. For months, banks have been re-engineering their operations to comply with expected rules changes. More important, they are scrambling to figure out how they will replace profits from trading with other revenue sources to generate similar returns on equity. The clock is ticking.

Or perhaps they will learn to settle for lower returns on equity, but more stable performance from quarter to quarter.

Banks knew the rules were coming, ever since the frantic aftermath of 2008-09 when former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker proposed the abolition of prop-trading at banks. He, as well as politicians, regulators and the public at large, reasoned prop-trading contributed to or exacerbated the crisis. A year after the passing of Dodd-Frank legislation, banks are hustling to offset expected loss revenues, make sense of the rules, and figure out what they can and cannot do.

The rules permit client-flow trading. Banks won't be forced to shut down their trading operations. They can maintain trading positions if they exist to accommodate a client wishing to buy or sell securities or derivatives. That's not as easy as it sounds.

The rules that explain client-related flow trading are difficult to interpret and even harder to comply with: If a bank purchases equities from a client and hold them for a week, is that client-related trading? If a bank purchases corporate bonds in anticipation of clients wanting to buy them, is that client-related trading? If a bank purchases securities and re-sells them for an above-normal profit within a day, is that client-related trading?

Banks are huddling among themselves to understand what the rules will permit or prohibit. Banks also are puzzled to determine what is an infraction. The rules, for example, let regulators infer that prop-trading exists if banks report excess trading revenues or volatile trading revenues, even if it appears all trading is tied to a client request.

Trades for hedging purposes will be permitted. Yet hedges are hard to interpret. When is a hedge really a hedge? What if equity positions are hedged 100 percent one day, but market movement causes the same position to be hedged 90 percent the next week? The rules are subject to interpretation. But no bank wants to be subject to a penalty or subpoena. Some banks will not want to absorb unusual legal costs to interpret every aspect of the rules.

Some major banks (such as JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley)--especially those with significant institutional and hedge-fund clients--will dig in, continue to maintain trading desks for client flows, and learn with difficulty to live within the rules. They anticipate declining trading revenues, but hope other client business (e.g., equity IPOs, M&A mandates or cash-management services) will offset the declines.

Other banks--especially those that weren't major traders or those with negligible success in prop-trading--will abandon trading altogether.

The big banks that stick it must invest in systems and hire compliance people to monitor trading activity to make sure they obey rules. They prefer to invest in other revenue-generating projects, but if they choose to retain trading desks, they will learn to live with constraints, limits, and compliance costs.

Banks don't broadcast all the repercussions of limited trading, but there are other implications. Some analysts rationalize the disappearance of prop-trading revenues could push ROEs, customarily above 15%, down to 10% and below, even in the best of times, unless they find offsets or new products and services.

Bank trading arms attracted smart, talented traders, researchers, and black-box theorists. This group will now seek to work for hedge funds, private-equity firms, and broker/dealers. Cynics argue that's fine, since the same group might have contributed to the exotic products that led to the crisis.

Bank trading units have long been centers of innovation, new ideas, and new products. Hedge funds and private-equity firms spawn ideas, too. But the Goldmans and Morgan Stanleys with global networks, securities distribution arms, research groups, market intelligence, investing clients and capital often acted as incubators for new products or ways of trading. Lower profitability will discourage them from devoting resources to new products or trading ideas.

Again, cynics, regulators and many in the general public say that's fine. New trading products and ideas should be, they say, developed slowly, and their risks and impact on markets analyzed and studied in depth.

Bank trading units may scale down their market-making and dealing roles. Banks had capital and resources to act as market-makers across multiple products. They provided vast amounts of liquidity in derivatives, bonds, and currencies. Will liquidity be jeopardized if banks de-emphasize trading? Will banks be less willing to assist institutional clients in hedging strategies or if it wants to avoid penalties lest regulators misinterpret the position?

Tough questions for big banks, but with solutions that might make them uncomfortable for a while.

Are you one of the many millions saddled with spending debts from loans, prepaid credit cards, overdrafts or other forms of borrowing?

Are you also one of the 1 in 5 Brits who fail to share financial help date with your partner - or the one in ten who has a secret credit card?

If so, it's time to own up - to yourself at least - and take stock of your situation. Personal debt levels have soared in recent years, at a time of recession, spiralling inflation, rising unemployment and poor growth prospects.

Many of us are trapped in the reality of negative equity, expensive credit card debts, outstanding loans from the days where business was booming, an ever rising cost of living and little hope of an income raise!

If your debts have escalated to problem levels, or you are secretly spending, it could be time to seek help.

There are a wide range of personal and independent debt advisers and agencies who can offer confidential, valuable advice on how you can work yourself out of debt.

This includes basics such as setting a good household budget with allocations for 'nice extras' and socials, switching from expensive credit cards to low or zero percent cards to clear an existing balance, or trying prepaid credit cards to limit spending whilst shopping.

Other tactics can also combine to make great gains - using vouchers and discount codes, carrying out price comparisons before buying, tackling the underlying motivators for spending, switching to a cheaper mortgage, cutting out unnecessary spending and other such tricks.

The type of debt should also be considered - not all debt is bad. Examples of good debt include a mortgage, business loan or student loan, but the ratio of debt to income should never be more than 35%, according to standard wisdom.

Bad debt includes credit card spending that is never paid off and escalates, store cards that aren't paid off in full each month and general purchases on credit for disposable items.

Car loans can be considered a bad debt if an expensive car is bought that is unnecessary to the driver - the high APR and the effect of rapid and immediate depreciation on a car as soon as it's used, means that no value can be generated from taking on the debt (other than the practical advantage of owning transport).

It's important too to be honest about your spending. Hiding debts and credit card bills from your partner isn't a healthy foundation for any relationship.

Finances between couples should be discussed in the same way as any other important aspect of life. For married couples in particular, joint financial affairs require total and honest disclosure.

Remember too that an inability to handle debt correctly will lead to a damaged credit rating. This will have an ongoing effect on your ability to take out credit in future, which may become a problem if you and your partner are looking to remortgage, for example.

So this is a wake-up call to everyone really whose head is still in the sand about secret spending habits. Be brave, tackle them face on and take control of your spending - rather than letting it take control of you.

Article written by Sam, sometime secret spender and writer at MoneySupermarket.com, the UKs number one comparison website for credit cards, including premium and prepaid credit cards.